


Meant to fly high

by Curly



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst?, Fluff, Karasuno Volleyball Club - Freeform, M/M, Young Small giant, Young Tsukishima Akiteru
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 15:55:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17852624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Curly/pseuds/Curly
Summary: How the young Little Giant stopped smashing his head against solid surfaces. Akiteru Tsukishima maybe had something to do with it.





	Meant to fly high

**Author's Note:**

> So. KyoAki? KyoAki.
> 
> This turned out to be a little of a character study but as I already sold my soul to this ship I needed to write this to feed myself, enjoy!!!

It was somewhat comforting. The sound of his own heart beating as if it were about to come out of his chest and the sweat rolling down his back, melting warmly against his cold skin that bristled at the sound of the balloons exploding against the floor.

God, it was so comforting.

In the opinion of a rookie, the shoes squealing against the polished floor of the gym was a refreshing sound. As refreshing as the cold wind on the mountain in the middle of summer or eating ice cream when your throat doesn’t know how to distinguish between need and desire. In his personal opinion, someone who plays volleyball for quite some time, the atmosphere of a gym just waking up and receiving the players in the new beginning of a day was the best landscape in the world. It didn’t matter if you had experience with the sport or not, the smell of a gym just opening up couldn’t be compared with anything.

It didn’t mean, however, that he didn’t have bad days in that same place where he found so much pleasure.

Many people told him that he wouldn't be benefited from exerting himself to the point of exhaustion in something that would not give him a decent future. Many people told him to also spend time in another of his hobbies with the same passion that he devoted to volleyball, that his good taste for literature and philosophy was more exquisite than his preference in sweating for hours while hitting a ball, that his good hand for drawing and painting did not require to be two meters tall. Many people told him, too, that nothing is completely true and that maybe in the future he would not even care about volleyball anymore.

Basically, people liked to talk about him as if they knew him or as if they had the right to make his decisions for him.

He ignored them. He was good at what he did despite not meeting the stereotypical height for the sport he was so passionate about, and as long as it worked well for him, then everything was fine.

However, trash days were demons in the remotest of his perfectionist mind not willing to let him alone until he was plunged into the depths of darkness. The complex that he had with his height was a problem, but when it started to be a problem for the people around him, then the matter became more serious.

He could fly. Or at least that's what Coach Ukai had told him when he was a starting player. It didn’t mean then, that his wings would work all the time, because what could best define him at that time, was that he was a baby bird that had learned to fly without the help of his parents, and despite the fact that after all, he knew how to fly, he still needed to learn the basic principles to be able to open his wings before any adversity without being plunged into emptiness.

To his good luck, he was a fast learner. To his bad luck, his perfectionist self wasn’t patient at all.

"Listen, kid. Take a break, go outside, breathe some fresh air, and come back when you're calm and without wanting to kill your teammates that can’t keep up with you."

It was the fourth time that week that the coach kindly asked him to retire from training to cool his head. He was the team Ace despite being just a second year, but apparently he still needed to leave the gym to order his priorities.

A hand rested on his shoulder.

"Don’t take it personally, you know that he only wants the best for you and for the team."

The words the Karasuno captain told him were, in theory, intended to relax him.

It didn’t help at all and then the Ace slightly shook his shoulder out of his captain's grip. From the corner of his eye he could see his senpai shake his head in resignation, but nothing mattered when he had to retire from training because he had been too demanding with his team, as well as with himself.

His wings were meant to fly high. But like every baby bird he belonged to a pack, he couldn’t fly in solitude. A lone bird was possibly the saddest sight of all, and he understood that to go far, he needed to do it alongside his team.

However, the darkness was sometimes so mowing that generate that he couldn’t see straight and his mind was lost in the clouds trying to find a meaning for the void.

That's when he needed to return to the real world, and hit, at his will, his head against the vending machine that was near the volleyball gym.

The heat that spread through his skin wasn’t pleasant, but somehow it felt right. As if his conscious and subconscious had agreed that this form was correct to bring him back to himself. As if the feeling of heat and burning in his forehead after being slammed against the cold metal of the machine where everybody bought drinks was a positive and ironic response to “cool your head” and “Focus”.

After hitting his forehead to get his feet back on the ground, he followed the routine of sitting on the bench next to the machine and leaving his mind blank and taking long breaths.

When that had become a routine? Looking for a response to that question was frightening.

However, very suddenly and to his surprise, his time of relaxation to return to himself was interrupted. A towel fell on his head and the metal of something cold touched his forehead gently.

"Hey, everything alright?"

The most warm and bright smile greeted him when he opened his eyes and payed attention to who interrupted his moment of meditation.

"I'm sorry if I'm bothering you," the boy who _was actually_ bothering him, brought one hand to the back of his head while his other hand held the can of soda over the Karasuno Ace's forehead. "I just happened to be passing by aaaaand I happened to see that you hit your head against the vending machine and I thought you had fainted against the machine or something."

The guy had a very bright annoyingly smile and the little giant frowned when he felt a warm feeling deep in his stomach which alarmed him for a few seconds.

"Oh. Thanks." The Ace found his voice. "For worrying, I mean. You’re actually bothering me, but it's okay! I don’t mind."

The blonde in front of him, who by the way still held the can of cold soda against the warm skin of his forehead, released the most genuine and friendly laugh that no one had released in a long time in his presence.

The Karasuno’s Ace was momentarily hypnotized.

"That was very straightforward, but thanks for saying that you don’t mind if I'm bothering you, I guess."

Realizing his mistake in being very rude with this guy who was just trying to be friendly with him, his cheeks took a little color. Sometimes he doesn’t mediate his words and he spoke his mind without thinking, which used to cause him problems, or put him into embarrassing situations.

"O-Oi! I didn’t mean that!"

"Are you sure?"

"Is that a trick question?"

"I don’t know, do you want it to be?"

"I don’t even know your name, stranger."

"My bad, I am Tsukishima Akiteru, third year, I was in the volleyball club for a while but due to the large number of members that did give better results than me I left the team, although I go to see every game. I’m a big fan."

This took the little Ace by surprise, who felt bad for not remembering him. Even if it wasn’t his fault.

"Tsukishima-san, I’m so sorry for being so rude just now! My name is-"

"Don’t worry, its okay! And I already know your name, you're the awesome little giant after all, it's a great nickname, if you ask me."

A cool breeze shook the trees for a moment, and the little Ace of Karasuno felt his skin react to the change in temperature.

"Ya’ think?" Now it was his turn to bring a hand to the back of his neck and smile awkwardly. "Well, yeah I mean, in fact if it's a cool nickname."

Akiteru returned another smile, and then indicated with his head to the Ace to take the can that he still held against his forehead. When the little crow took it from the blond's hands, his fingers subtly brushes Akiteru's, causing his cheeks to take on a little color again.

The boy, who was unfairly too tall, took a seat at the side of the little giant and was silent for a while.

"You don’t... You didn’t really faint against the vending machine, right?" Having no answer, the blonde assumed that this was a _yes_ , as ridiculous as the question was. "Oh. Well, hehe~, I suppose sometimes a slap in the face is not enough to make oneself concentrate and stop thinking too much, right?"

The Ace ignored the pressure in his chest, he frowned and lowered the soda can from his forehead to his lap.

"You wouldn’t understand."

" _Oh?_ " The blonde next to him sighed. The way his personality changed suddenly captured all the attention of the little giant at his side. "What do you think I wouldn’t understand? The feeling of being drowned with no chance to get your head to the surface and without even having the opportunity to touch the bottom with your feet? The desperation of being lost without knowing what path to take because you fear that the results will ruin everything you worked so hard for? Have your mind blank without knowing how to fill it because nothing seems enough? The fear of disappointing those you most appreciate without realizing that in the process that fear makes you disappoint yourself?" The blonde let out another sigh, as if a backpack full of hammers had fallen from his shoulders. "You're right, maybe I don’t understand."

Clearly, the little Ace of the Karasuno wasn’t the only person with problems. He found much understanding and logic in most of Akiteru's words, but he didn’t feel ready to recognize them in himself and in his current situation even though his words weren’t that far from the truth.

That wasn't an impediment for him to say what he thought, though.

"Tsukishima-san, you're so cool..."

"Huh?!"

"The way you spoke, I could never express my feelings so precisely. Is knowing many difficult words a condition to being a third year? So awesome."

"C’mon, it's not that impressive..." The blonde was again with one hand shaking the hair from the back of his neck and a very soft crimson color adorned his cheeks.

The Karasuno’s Ace took with one hand the can of soda that was still cold in his lap until it touched the blond’s face, and pressed the metal very softly against one of Akiteru’s rosy cheeks. This surprised the blonde who strangely seemed to acquire even more color all over his face.

"Thank you, Tsukishima-san." The boy said sincerely. "For wanting to make me feel better, I mean."

Akiteru smiled genuinely and nodded a couple of times before moving his eyes towards the trees. "Was nothing. Your face was screaming that you needed a distraction as soon as possible."

"So... we're friends now?" The little crow asked a little shy. Akiteru raised an eyebrow, his pretty smile always present.

"If you want it, we can be friends." The blond agreed. "Wait… Why do I feel that now I will have to buy you lunch or buy you an ice cream if you ask me to?"

"Isn’t that part of being friends with a beautiful kouhai? It's not my fault I was born later, Tsukishima-san." The smallest boy laughed with amusement.

A new breeze danced between the nature that surrounded the outside of the gym and a few birds flew in the distance. The little giant looked with new eyes at his surroundings and realized how beautiful the day was and how wonderful it was to have the opportunity to play volleyball as a starter in Karasuno.

Negative days existed and it was impossible to avoid them all the time, but in a good way, thanks to that now he had a new friend that might last for a long, very long time.

The little giant said goodbye to Akiteru and thanked him for the soda, moving his legs to fly to the gym with a little smile on his lips. Training will continue and he couldn't let himself down.  _Not anymore_.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this days ago with fear to finally post it and I dont even know or remember if there's a year gap betweet akiteru and LG or if coach ukai was there when they went to nationals with the little giant, anyways, details details
> 
> kudos?? a comment?? i don't bite please tell me what u think about this !!! <3


End file.
